Paperman
by Midori Aoi
Summary: Based on Disney's Hit animation - Paperman(Valentine's day Zutara). Silence filled the air save the warm gusts of wind - and that would've put end to the story. The end to a meeting that could've just been discarded like a paper plane down a dark alley. Yet a promise had been made and a wish had been cast. Sometimes... someone would be listening and fate is ever ready to cast magic


So, I recently drew a quick little Zutara thing for Valentine's and was asked to write a fic for it. This _is_ based off Disney's animated short - Paperman. So, I'm not infringing - I'm just giving it a Zutara twist I think you'd all enjoy. Anyway,

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: TLA nor the idea for Disney's Paperman.

* * *

**Paperman**

_Happy Valentine's Day_

_By Midori Aoi_

* * *

It was a regular morning. The sky was its usual blue and the city was its usual loud and boisterous. Cars zoomed up and down busy streets as people walked down walkways, into stores and businesses - all going about their own and minding their own with the occasional and polite greeting and bidding of a good summer day.

It was nearing mid-morning and standing on an empty train station was a sole man in a business suit. A chirp in his pocket drew his attention to his mobile and with quick tug he took the gadget out and glanced at the message on his screen.

Have a magical day. ;) - Uncle Iroh

Zuko smiled briefly, scoffing with his nose and rolling his eyes. Even after telling his uncle that it wasn't necessary to add his name to the message (his carrier will provide that information well enough) Iroh would always be consistent in wishing a 'magical' day for him. Most days Zuko would ignore it and go about his day as usual, but something in the way the air was gentle and warm against his back and how the sky seemed rather cheerful made his chest feel a bit lighter.

"Must've been the muffin..." He murmured to himself, shrugging this good feeling off for nothing more than a temporary breakfast sugar high.

Quickly looking up at the large stationary clock on a nearby beam, Zuko checked the time.

8:15

A hint of a shadow brushed over his brow and Zuko let out a worried grunt. He glanced around, other people were glancing at their own watches or gadgets to make sure their time was the same as the big tell tale clock, worried glances and frustrated frowns became common place. The train was late.

A big breeze blew on the lapels of his suit jacket and Zuko tugged his phone back in his pocket before adjusting the papers in the folder he carried in his other arm. Suddenly, something smacked him in the arm loudly. Startled, Zuko looked down at his right shoulder and saw a single sheet of paper wriggling against him.

Another strong breeze blew at his hair, jacket and ultimately, the paper. The sheet flew off and the blur of a person ran past him. Zuko followed the blur to see a shapely figure rushing after the sheet before catching it when it stuck to the edge of a nearby garbage bin.

She let out a loud sigh of relief and Zuko looked away quickly when he realized he had been staring. Soft footsteps neared him and he threw a swift glance. She stood next to him tugging her paper into a similar folder in her arms and she glanced up with a pair of the most bluest blue eyes Zuko had ever seen.

Looking away quickly, Zuko focused on shifting his own paperwork a bit more comfortably (not nervously, he assured) against his chest. Still, he glanced at her again and saw her look away, tugging at her hair over her ear. When she looked up he offered a polite yet thin smile, one she returned with bright red lips and mocha colored dimples.

Wow...

Zuko looked away again. Silence followed save the sounds of other trains pulling in and out, voices over the P.A system announced the assigned destinations and their time schedules. A few breezes pushed at their hair and clothes as they waited for their respective trains.

A shove of wind burst next to them, yanking one of Zuko's papers from his folder and straight into the face of the young woman next to him.

He jumped in surprise upon seeing the paper land loudly against her face, yet he made no move to remove the offending sheet until the wind calmed. Reaching over he tugged the sheet off, only to see her scrunched face and he could only stare, mesmerized.

She finally opened those big blues and looked at him then back at the paper in his hand. She let out a snort of amusement before looking at him sheepishly. Zuko blinked, confused before looking down at his coat. Did he have something on his jacket? No... tie? No.

Then he looked back at the sheet and saw the imprint of her red lipstick against his sheet and he found the reason for her laughter. A smile leaked over his face and he looked back up only to find she was already boarding her train and taking a seat.

The smile melted away as he watched her sit and felt his breath hitch in his throat when she looked back at him through the glass, bright blue eyes looking at him curiously before a warm smile pulled those beautiful lips back and made the apples of her caramel colored cheeks brighten.

He had just enough time to begin to smile back before her train burst away, leaving him standing there with an extended hand holding onto a slightly wrinkled paper and the memory of her lips on its surface.

"Train 213 boarding," he heard vaguely and he nearly burst into a sprint when he realized that call was for his train. He just barely walked through the sliding doors when they shut and his own train moved in the exact opposite direction.

* * *

"Late again, Mr. Huo."

Zuko sighed as he took a seat by his desk, his supervisor glaring at him with a stack of very familiar papers.

"It won't happen again, Supervisor Zhao." Zuko droned, setting his folder down and watching the hands of the older man dump the stack loudly on his desk with disdain.

"This is your last warning, Huo. I don't want to hear anything from you today more than I would have to. Now get to work."

Zuko looked back with a bored stare before looking back at the stack. His golden eyes turned and looked at the paper with the red lipstick print. The breeze from outside was warm and comforting in the dark of his work, tickling the edges of his hair against his brow. Suddenly another burst of wind blew into the office, lifting the slightly wrinkled paper into the air and nearly sucking it out of the window.

Zuko chased after it in half a panic, snatching it before it was lost to him forever. He sighed in relief when he had it safe in his grasp, his eyes glancing up across the street before pulling away and placing the paper back on his desk. A silly feeling made him nearly blush in annoyance. It was just a stupid paper. Why make such a big deal out of it? _As if I'll ever see her again. I should just throw this thing away and actually do some work. _But the paper remained on his desk, his hands never reaching for it to discard its memory and instead of shrugging it off or pulling through with this half-hearted decision, the memory of her blue eyes tickled his mind yet again.

Zuko sighed and turned to the papers, reaching for a pen and pencil when something grabbed his attention out of the corner of his eye. He glanced back out the window only to do a complete double take.

Just across the street, through the window of the building ahead of him stood the woman he saw earlier that day.

His heart nearly jumped to his throat and he nearly threw himself against the glass, wondering if what he was seeing was true. He blinked rapidly, but she remained. She was shaking the hand of an older man, smiling those beautiful lips in a professional manner.

An unbelieving smile pushed the corners of Zuko's lips up and he instantly found himself wanting to get her attention.

But how?

He threw the window up, letting the breeze fully in and he could hear the sighs of relief from his fellow workers. He ignored them and threw his arms up, waving frantically in her direction.

Nothing. Not even a glance.

Put off, Zuko sat back inside. He frowned, thinking furiously as he tried to find a way to grab her attention when his hand slid over the top of a slender paper. He looked down and an idea lit inside his mind. He reached for the paper with the kiss but hesitated. Rethinking, he reached over the tall stack of papers and grabbed the top. Zuko recalled those many days in his youth when he had helped his cousin fold paper cranes to hang on his ceiling. Lu Ten had grasped on to the hope of being able to fold a thousand before he died, and teaching Zuko to fold cranes required more practice than anything.

Of course Azula took on to folding like a fish did to water, but Zuko needed more help. In the end, Zuko was pretty lousy at crane folding but he could make the best paper planes - even better than Azula's.

Zuko began to fold. His fingers turned and pressed the paper like a fresh memory and within moments the paper plane was complete. He looked it over once it was over, making sure the wings were even and correctly folded. Throwing a quick glance to make sure his supervisor was occupied in his office, Zuko stood and prepared the trajectory of his throw.

The first throw was a flop. The paper plane barely took to the air at all before it swerved and spun down, descending into the face of a cabbage merchant. The merchant let out a cry before bumping against his crate of cabbages, toppling them over with a great crash.

"My Cabbages!" He shrieked and Zuko ducked behind the window, only peeking out to make sure the merchant wasn't searching for him. He grinned sheepishly, before turning back and beginning to fold another paper plane.

Right as he turned towards the window, a strong hand yanked his shoulder back and threw Zuko against his chair. Startled, Zuko met the fiercely irritated face of his supervisor.

"Oh... hey, there..." Zuko attempted to sound casual, his voice wavering sheepishly. Zhao's burnt gold eyes narrowed, annoyed.

"Back to work, Mr. Huo." Zhao hissed, before reaching an arm and slamming the window shut. The glass shook with the force of the slam and Zuko was successfully able to hide a wince.

Zhao stormed off towards his office, throwing a warning glower over his shoulder at Zuko. Zuko watched as the door to the office shut before catching the curious stares of his fellow employees. They all looked away once he frowned at them.

Looking back at the plane in his hand, Zuko looked back up at the office door. He looked back out the window and fixed a determined gaze on the figure of the woman with the blue eyes and red lips. He needed to know who she was. He couldn't just stop now.

Throwing the window back up, he prepared his second plane and with a fervent wish let it fly. It took to the wind like a bird did to air and it glided across the street and toward the window. Zuko's heart jumped to his throat in anticipation only to plummet to his stomach when it descended to quickly through an open window and landed on the desk of a plump older woman. She looked at the paper plane with surprised wonder and looked up to him with a curious smile.

She threw him a blushing wink and he waved awkwardly before shaking his arms at her in the negative, bowing in embarrassment. She pouted at him, put out and merely tossed the paper plane in a nearby garbage bin.

Zuko got back to work. Snatching at another paper, folding it with gaining expert grace, Zuko prepared at third plane.

it landed on the side of the window, the girl never catching its movement. Zuko felt a fire grasp at his chest and he threw himself back to his desk.

He folded a fourth plane, a fifth, a sixth. Each landed a bit too close or a bit too far. His tenth paper plane had a perfect trajectory and was flying true... until a flock of birds flapped by and one of them ran into the paper, letting out an undignified squawk.

Seriously...?

Zuko felt his face contort in a disbelieving and annoyed expression, his hands twitching in irritation. But he didn't stop there. His twenty third finally made it into the room but it zoomed behind her and landed in a trash bin, making Zuko's frustration skyrocket and he could only bang his head against the window pane repeatedly, gathering more attention than he realized.

Thirty five. Thirty nine. Forty eight. Fifty seven. Sixty three.

Zuko's searching hand struck an empty rack, throwing it to the floor with the force of his search. Snapped out of his reverie he looked up to see the surprised and very curious looks from his fellow workers. He looked around his desk for more papers. Nothing.

Zuko looked up and saw a large and healthy stack on the desk of his neighbor but the older man was already pressing a big hand to the side of the stack and dragging it away from Zuko's gaze, protective.

Zuko pursed his lips, throwing a frantic glance at the window and the woman he was so desperately trying to grab attention from. She was already standing and shaking the hand of the man in front of her. It looked like she was concluding an interview.

She'll be gone in just moments...

Zuko looked back down at his desk, his eyes catching the one sheet with the lipstick print. He shot another look at the girl across the street, she was giving a quick bow - making small talk, maybe?

He still had time.

He grabbed the paper and began to fold.

It was ready in ten seconds flat, throwing a final glance at Zhao's office - the door was opening - Zuko turned toward the window, his plane readied in his grasp.

He inhaled deeply before letting the hair blow past his lips, at the same time a strong breeze picked up around him. The plane was quickly plucked from the pinch of his fingers, yanked away.

"Ah!" Zuko yelped, throwing himself after the plane but it was already spinning away towards the street below. Zuko looked back up, in time to see the girl disappearing behind a closing door. His heart tumbled to the ground.

Someone cleared their throat above him and Zuko sat up, meeting Zhao's flat stare with pressed lips. In his hands was another large stack of papers and Zuko looked at the papers with disdain.

"I am not warning you again," Zhao grunted, dumping the pile on Zuko's desk with a loud thud. With a swift spin of his heels, Zhao was making his way across the floor and Zuko looked back out the street only to feel his heart lift.

There she was!

Just walking out the building and walking off in one direction. Zuko looked back at the stack of papers and then back at the office.

I hated this job anyway.

In a moment he snatched up what belongings he needed and rushed off. The stack of papers followed in a flurry of wind and force, fluttering and flapping to the ground behind him. Down he ran, ignoring the calls of his supervisor and the surprised yelps of people he nearly ran over as he sprinted towards the stairs and down five floors. He threw his jacket on as he pushed the main doors open, his eyes searching amongst the crowd for a familiar summer jacket and blue eyes.

He threw himself down the street, cars and vehicles braking and honking angrily as he spun this way and that through the buzzing metropolis. People yelled obscenities at him but it didn't matter, all he cared was finding that girl.

His feet hit sidewalk and he whirled around, hands raking at his hair as he tried to find anything familiar. Which way did she go?

Nothing.

A flutter ahead of him caught his eye and Zuko could feel something stump him right in the chest. There it was. Right on top of a post box was the plane with the lip print. Disappointment, anger, despair and frustration made him snatch the plane from the lip of the gray metal box and toss the paper into the air. It took off ascending beautifully, but Zuko didn't care. All that mattered is that he never wanted to see that thing again.

Stomping off he began to head home, already bitter and ready for the day to end.

What he didn't know was how the plane lifted to the skies flying over buildings as the wind caressed its course into a dark alley, it fluttered down, spinning as it descended to pale concrete.

It slid into the ground, landing lifeless next to thousands of other paper planes. The hopes and dreams of love never met.

Silence filled the air save the warm gusts of wind - and that would've put end to the story. The end to a meeting that could've just been discarded like a paper plane down a dark alley.

And yet a promise had been made and a wish had been cast. And sometimes... someone would be listening and fate is ever ready to make the winds cast magic.

The paper plane flitted once, lifting and falling. It gave another forward lurch, jumping quickly and the wind began to lift it. It bounced once, twice before taking to the air. It began to spin around, ascending and descending in cheerful bobs and the many other planes around it began to lift with life. The wind pushed them up, and soon they were all spinning - a tornado of thousands of paper planes all lead by the one with the mark of a wish.

The plane with the print moved ahead, bobbing while the others followed in a line and once their target was found the moved decidedly.

Zuko was marching down the sidewalk, scowling at anyone who crossed his path. When suddenly he felt something strike at his leg. He glanced down and saw the paper plane.

Wonder filled him for a moment before he shrugged it off, shaking the paper off with a smack of his arm.

Several other planes suddenly blew against his chest, Zuko's eyes widened before he let out a gust of a snarl through his lips and smacked them all away.

Several more appeared, all landing point first against his torso - like arrows pointing in another direction. But before he could slap those away thousands more threw themselves at him, and with a force he had never felt in his life, Zuko was being yanked in the other direction.

"What the-" He shouted before the force of the whirlwind was blowing him to the side. Thoroughly confused and frightened, Zuko tried to fight his way from the papers but they were having none of it. In a decided tornado they spun and the one with the lipstick flitted around once before jetting off.

It sped down streets, pulled with the force of a gale as it swooped past newspaper stands and magazine stores. The wind throwing all of those objects around to the heavy shock of the commonwealth.

It didn't take long for the Paper plane to find its goal. Because there she was, looking over a stand of flowers, eying the blooms appreciatively. The Plane swooped down spinning once before landing point first into a set of blooms. She gave a startled jump, looking at the small object with a confused frown before she recognized its print on its wing.

It was a bright red lip stain. A shade too familiar and one she knew was on her lips. As she reached for the small plane the wind plucked it from the bouquet it stuffed it into, making it fly around her.

She followed it with a spin, surprised only to watch it spin around her. Then it rose to the sky and hovered and something in her knew that it was beckoning. A bright grin pushed her lips upward and the plane took off. She gave chase.

* * *

Across the city, Zuko was being bounced across another busy street, he shouted for help but people could do nothing but watch in astonishment as he appeared for a moment only to be spirited away by nothing other than thousands of paperplanes.

The planes rose and fell, pushing at Zuko until he found himself in a train station. The planes pushed at his back, urging him up a set of stairs even though he was trying to grab onto a beam to resist. No such luck. Thrown into a nearby train against his will, he grabbed at the edges of the doors, attempting to resist against the possessed objects but another gust of wind threw him past the doors and straight into a seat.

* * *

The lone paper plane swooped around the girl again, her hands nearly catching it as she made to take a turn but it lead her away again. Before she knew it she was at a train station, following the wind and a paper plane up a set of stairs. She paused as she rounded the corner of the stairs, watching the plane with wonder and excitement before she burst off after it. It swooped into the closing doors of a train and she squeezed through just in time, nearly tripping over a sitting patron.

"Sorry!" She exclaimed, smiling at the irritated man whose toes she nearly smashed. She turned and followed the paperplane down several train carts until it settled against a seat. She grabbed it, looking at it with surprise.

* * *

In the other train, Zuko was sitting with a right grump. His arms were crossed with held in rage as he ignored the wary glances of other passengers. With a burst he attempted to break free from the planes but they all gave a spin and threw him back down on the seat. A small child that had been sitting close was yanked far away from the crazy man covered in paper planes, but Zuko gave no heed.

"Now reaching the final station..." the voice chimed over the roar of the trains engine and Zuko looked up as the train began to slow.

* * *

She held the paper plane in tan hands, looking over her shoulder and towards the unknown destination, the train was slowing and the speeding city around her settled, the ding of the doors reached her ears and she looked back down at the paperplane. It remained still.

She stood, now uncertain and definitely confused, and headed out of the train. She looked back at the paperplane and bounced it in her hands. It remained lifeless in her hands.

* * *

Zuko had been all but completely yanked from his seat and out the open doors of the train, a strong breeze pushing against his hair and suit jacket, the paperplanes clinging to his suit with a power he had no idea where it came from.

* * *

A breeze picked up, pushing at her clothes and hair to the direction in front of her and the paper plane suddenly gave a twitch - its point jerking in the direction ahead of her, her lips pulled into an excited smile and she looked up.

In a moment their eyes met, blue against gold in surprise and definite dumbfounded disbelief. There was a pause between them, her smile brightened and he quickly broke free from all the paper planes that now fell to the ground behind him.

"Hi..." He breathed, still unsure if this was all real or not. How could it be? But there she was. Real as the air in his lungs.

"Hi," she chuckled, in her hands was the very plane he had tossed into the sky in frustration.

"Zuko..." He said, smiling as he approached her. She lifted a hand and pulled some stray hairs behind her ear, her hair loops framing her face just right.

"Katara." She said, somewhat bashfully under his wonder filled stare. He let out a breathy laugh and she echoed his laugh. He looked down at the paper plane in her grasp. Magical day, indeed.

"Would you like to get a cup of coffee with me, Katara?" He asked. Her red lips parted in a smile more beautiful than the last and Zuko felt like this day had definitely gone the way his Uncle had wished him.

"I'd like that."

Fin

* * *

Good grief, anyone want some wine with that Cheese? :P Review!


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